Buffy the Vampire Slayer (2019) 5
Buffy the Vampire Slayer #5 is the fifth issue of ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' (2019) comic book series. Written by Jordie Bellaire and illustrated by David López, it was originally published on June 5, 2019 by Boom! Studios. Synopsis The reimagining of Joss Whedon's groundbreaking hit series kicks off a brand new story arc as Team Slayer deals with the devastating consequences of Xander becoming a vampire. Buffy and the Scooby Gang have lost one of their own to Team Vamp… but what if there's a way to get their friend back? The Slayer will walk the line between responsibility and rampage as she searches for anything that'll bring back her friend, balancing her quest with her duties as the Slayer while trying not to lose anyone else in the process. What do you do when your entire purpose is killing vampires and your friend just turned into one?"Buffy Loses Control in BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #5 From BOOM! Studios". Boom! Studios, May 23, 2019. Summary Buffy fights a nest of vampires, while she is visibly upset and crying. She says she is looking for a vampire willing to go shopping with her, and she rips a vampire's arm off to get her message across. A few hours earlier, Buffy is dreaming about sitting in class. She is awakened by a ticking noise from her window. She looks outside and sees a frantic Willow, telling her that Giles called and they need to get to his place immediately. It's right before sunrise and the girls walk to Giles' apartment, discussing the movie from the night before. Buffy says she was too sweaty and nervous to allow Robin to make a move, leaving Willow to make more jokes about them liking each other. They arrive at the Watcher's front door to a worried, solemn Giles. Inside, he prepares the girls for what they are about to come face to face with — upstairs in Giles' bloody, Ms. Calendar performs a ritual over an unconscious and bleeding Xander. Willow is horrified at the sight and tries to rush to him, but Jenny stops her and warns her if she gets too close she will interrupt the spell. Giles tells the girls that he fears Drusilla lured Xander to her to turn him, but didn't finish and left him on Giles' doorstep, with a note pinned to him that said: "Tasteless". Willow wants to know if they can fix Xander being a vampire, and Giles replies he is caught in a space between death and demon as Drusilla didn't completely sire him. He tells the girls they need a soul stone, a magical artifact that can tether the soul to a being. In order to find it, they need to get the instructions from Anya's magic shop. Giles informs Buffy she needs to go, but, to be successful at gaining access to the shop, she will need an escort — a vampire. In their mausoleum, Drusilla is pouring over books and berating Spike for saving Xander with his blood, indicating her goal is to have an army of men to serve her. As she is looking through books, she excitedly shows Spike an ancient knife, which she feels will help them reign over the Hellmouth and turn the men of Sunnydale into her personal army. Buffy obtains a map for getting the soul stone and brings it back to Giles to translate. Willow is heartbroken and doesn't know what she will do if they cannot save Xander. It is decided Willow and Buffy will skip school and remain at Giles' apartment while he translates the instructions. Giles and Jenny leave to make some coffee and Xander wakes up. The girls are relieved and believe it to be the same old Xander, but he soon exposes his vampire face and taunts that the Mistress soon will reign over the Hellmouth and they will watch everyone they love die a fiery death. Meanwhile, at the gallery, Joyce is setting up an ancient Egyptian exhibit. She is interrupted with a call from Sunnydale High School indicating that Buffy didn't show up for school today. An angry Joyce makes a note to confront and then ground Buffy forever. She passes a wall that holds an ancient knife, the very one Drusilla is looking for. Continuity *This story takes place in the morning following the previous issue. *Giles has called Willow, having her number since Welcome Back to the Hellmouth, Part Three. *Buffy's cellphone is still under Spike and Drusilla's possession, taken from her in Welcome Back to the Hellmouth, Part Three. *It's revealed that, despite Drusilla's promise to sire Xander and being the one who drank his blood (Welcome Back to the Hellmouth, Part Four), it was Spike who ultimately sired him, feeding him his vampire blood. *Drusilla researches about the Dagger of Sekhmet, which she'll eventually find and use in issue #8. *Willow says: "If he's home sick, then I want to be home sick," the same words she used ten years earlier about Xander as well (issue #7). He will say the same when returning his soul to her in issue #12. *Buffy visits the magic shop and gets the map to Anima Colligationem in "Frenemies". Appearances Individuals *Jennifer Calendar *Drusilla *Rupert Giles *Alexander Harris *Anyanka *Willow Rosenberg *Spike *Buffy Summers *Joyce Summers *Robin Wood Organizations and titles *Scooby Gang *Slayer *Watcher Species *Demon *Human *Vampire Locations *Egypt *Sunnydale, USA **1630 Revello Drive **Bronze **The gallery **Hawley mausoleum **Hellmouth **Magic shop **Rupert Giles's apartment **Sunnydale High School Weapons and objects *Anima Colligationem *Cross *Dagger of Sekhmet *Soul *Stake Death count *Two vampires, staked by Buffy Summers. Behind the scenes Production *Marc Aspinall's cover has Xander wearing a shirt of the Vampire Weekend band. *Morgan Beem's "Chosen One" variant cover introduces an unidentified Slayer, active in the Philippines in 1910. *Becca Carey's variant cover homages Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Doppelgängland". *Kaiti Infante's variant covers connect with her own for ''Angel'' #1. *The "Daily School Bulletin" subsection of the "Sunnydale High Sentinel" mentions Vice Principal Snyder, former president of the Chess Club Andrew Wells, as well as Officer Winslow. *The back of the issue includes a quote of Alexander Harris in episode "Prophecy Girl". Distribution *''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' #5 was the 85th best selling comic issue in its publishing month, with 22,221 sales in June 2019 at comic specialty stores."Top 500 Comics--June 2019". ICv2, July 15, 2019. Collections *''Once Bitten'' Gallery Covers Buffy-05-00a.jpg|Main cover Buffy-05-01a.jpg|Spotlight cover Buffy-05-02a.jpg|"Chosen One" Buffy-05-03a.jpg|Episode preorder Buffy-05-04a.jpg|Incentive Buffy-05-05a.jpg|Ink incentive Buffy-05-06a.jpg|"Choose your side: Slayer" Buffy-05-07a.jpg|"Choose your side: Vampire" Buffy-05-08a.jpg|Showcase variant Cover artwork Buffy-05-00b.jpg|Marc Aspinall Buffy-05-01b.jpg|Kevin Wada Buffy-05-02b.jpg|Morgan Beem Buffy-05-03b.jpg|Becca Carey Buffy-05-04b.jpg|Yasmine Putri Buffy-05-05a.jpg|Yasmine Putri Buffy-05-08a.jpg|Simone di Meo Preview Buffy-05-P1.jpg Buffy-05-P2.jpg Buffy-05-P3.jpg Buffy-05-P4.jpg References Category:Buffy comics Category:Boom! Studios